Quick Jump

Generation One – Tyler: Chapter One

by ashpie88

Chapter One: The Fire Station

My first day on the job I was stationed on the other side of town. It was a pretty easy day, there were no fires, I just sat around and got to know the guys. Of course, as part of my Probee work I had to do all of the cleaning around the station. When the shift was up a few of the guys when home and some, like me were settling in for a few days. I decided to go out and exercise a bit, feeling like I had been a bit lazy that day.

I started with a quick run on the treadmill. I enjoyed the peace that exercising brought me, when I was a teenager I discovered that it was a great way to cope when I had rough days. It made me feel refreshed and helped me to clear my head. It was my way to destress and get away from all of my problems.

After a few hours of working out I showered and headed to the bunk room to settle in for the night. I worked in shifts. Two days at the firehouse across town as a volunteer and three days on my side of town as a paid employee. When I worked across town I had to stay at the fire station to save time and the long trip to and from.

The next morning I was enjoying a quick bowl of cereal as the guys were filing into the station. We weren’t even thirty minutes into the shift when the fire alarm sounded. We all scrambled to get our bunker gear on and head out to the truck. This was going to be my first fire since the simulations in Probee school. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I hoped on the truck.

As I drove the truck to the site my palms started to sweat. I was starting to feel less brave and alittle more nervous. This was real, it wasn’t going to be a simulation. If you screwed up in a simulation it was just a dummy that would burn up and the “house” would be fine. That wouldn’t be the case if I screwed this up. That’s a lot of pressure for someone to have on their shoulders. My commanding officer just kept reassuring me and telling me that I would do just fine.

Once I was at the house, instinct took over and I was able to rush in and successfully put out the fire. It helped that there were no people in the house and that the fire was restricted to one room. Someone had left a dishrag on the stove and had apparently forgotten that they left the burner on. All we could do was advise them to be more careful next time as we retired to the station. Finally I was able to return home and begin working at my regular station.

The guys and I hung around the station all day, it was again a silent day. No fires. We decided that we were all going to go out for a drink after our shift was over. Nolan ended up bailing on us so Lee and my commanding officer, Sigmund decided that just the three of us would go. I was becoming fast friends with all the guys. We had a great sense of comraderie

We headed to a local sports bar, had a few drinks and played a few games of pool. We stayed out until the early hours of the morning, in hindsight that wasn’t the best idea knowing we had work at 7am. But I gained two best friends out the night.

The next day at the station while I was working on the trucks I heard a very soft voice call out to me.

“Um, Excuse me?”

I turned to see one of the most beautiful faces I had ever seen. “Uh, yeah?”

“Could I trouble you for a minute of your time?”

“Absolutely” I said, wiping my hands.

“I’m Tyler.” I smiled at the woman, she was stunning.

“I’m Keeli.” She blushed. “I live next door to the station and I know this is going to sound silly, but when the saftey inspector checked out my place, he didn’t check the fire alarms. I know nothing about them and I just want to be sure they are working. Do you think you could come over and take a look? I mean, as long as it’s not a waste of your time.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. I mean, I am a fire fighter so I’m sure I can help you with your alarm.” I couldn’t knock the stupid smile off my face.

“Great! I figured living by a fire station would pay off.” She giggled and bounced away. When my shift was over I headed over to check her alarms.